Sidekick

If you're driving yourself crazy counting down the hours until T-Mobile release the next-gen Sidekicks, then maybe you could do with the almighty distraction (and hunting ground for emo kids, new bands and any sexual predators that have managed to escape the regular security sweeps) of MySpace. Now that Helio no longer have the exclusive contract for the ridiculously popular social networking site on mobile handsets, apps have been springing up all over; T-Mobile may have taken a little longer than some rivals, but their implementation looks to be a good one.

If you're waiting on the new Sidekick LX to hit stores, you'll be happy to see the blurry snapshot below. You've got just over a month to wait.

According to this blurry card, you'll be able to find the new LX in stores on October 24. Also apparent from the card is that you will in fact be able to “kick it” all the way to the “next level.” If you're not planning an upcoming visit to your eye doctor, and would like to keep it that way, I've posted the contents of the tiny text after the jump along with some blurry pics of the phone itself.

Who knows what awesome powers The Boy Genius has to acquire all the pre-production cellphones he plays with, but rather than puzzle over it until our bladders ache instead let's enjoy his hands-on experience of the new Sidekick Slide (aka Zante). A similar form-factor to the Sidekick 3, though returning perhaps to the more squared-off predecessors, it has a smaller, higher-resolution screen and quad-band GSM/EDGE.

The Sidekick 3 seems to be getting a bit of a bashing with the launch of Helio's awesome Ocean, but if their hiring plans are anything to go by they might be staging a comeback. Eagle-eyed Danger fans spotted an ad for an internship - nothing special there, perhaps, but a glance through the job spec throws up this little tidbit about GPS:

"Formalize the Java Native Interface and glue layer for binding the BT serial support as a GPS provider of data"

Here's a prediction for you: the Sidekick iD will never make it over the Atlantic to the UK. And lest you accuse me - as some already have - of being anti-iD, I'll tell you why. In the US, the Sidekick 3 will set you back $199.99 with a contract, that's after a $200 rebate T-Mobile hope to tempt you with. Whereas over here you can pick it up free with a new contract; there's simply no market for a cut-down version of the SK3.

You might not think it were the case, but T-Mobile UK has been selling the Sidekick 3 since December last year. Yet even now, in the middle of April, their site has no mention of it. Enthusiasts, upgrading from the second-generation handset, talk of poor publicity as a sign of the operator not being 100% behind the cellphone; I managed to get my hands on one to see whether it was worth the fuss.

Look, it's the Sidekick ID in the hands of actual people! Well, okay, not actual people - they're actor-PR-advert-people, whom we all know are in fact constructed from yams and string. Still, it's good to see how the cut-down messenger looks in live hands; sadly it looks just as bulky as the SK3. What's even more entertaining, of course, is that the lady at the end is so excited by her new phone that she accidentally talks into the wrong end.

Anyone would think she wasn't in fact having a real phone-call at all!

Looks like the guys over at Crunchgear got their hands on the new Sidekick ID a little earlier than the rest of us. Since our demo won't be in until later today, I figured that I would share their initial thoughts on it.

We've finally got the official info on the mysterious T-Mobile Sidekick ID. I say mysterious because they went through great lengths at CTIA to not even show a picture of it. But I think it looks much better than the previous pictures that we've seen.

Oh look, a live photo of the Sidekick ID. Apparently it's in the hands of a certain ex-Gizmodo blogger and general Danger addict, and we can expect a review very soon. Forgive me if I can't get too excited; I'm still miffed that the super-slim boardroom friendly handset I was hoping they'd introduce has in fact turned out to be a cross between the SK3 and a rubber-clad fetish model.